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Workforce age diversity and the intensity of inventive activities in universities
Get PDFUniversities are increasingly tasked with fulfilling a "third mission"-driving economic growth through knowledge creation and innovation, with inventive activities serving as an important mechanism to achieve this mission. This research investigates the link between workforce age diversity and the intensity of inventive activities in universities to enhance our understanding of how demographic characteristics are associated with innovation and, ultimately, contribute to economic growth. Workforce age diversity is proposed to be linked to inventive activities via two distinct yet competing mechanisms: on the one hand, workforce age variety should facilitate collaboration, knowledge sharing, and networking, all of which should enhance invention; on the other hand, workforce age polarisation tends to result in social categorisation, lower trust, and affective conflict, which should hinder invention. Using the UK higher education sector as the empirical context, the analysis reveals a positive association between workforce age variety and the intensity of inventive activities in universities, as seen from more invention disclosures and patent registrations. Conversely, workforce age polarisation shows a negative association with the intensity of inventive activities, which is evidenced by fewer patent applications and registrations. As such, this research contributes to the literature by highlighting the important but nuanced link between workforce age diversity and the intensity of inventive activities. It also offers practical and policy implications aimed at promoting an age-inclusive invention process in universities
Hybrid Closed-Loop Therapy in Adults with Type 1 Diabetes in England: Long-Term Outcomes from a Real-World Observational Study
Get PDFObjective: To evaluate longitudinal real-world outcomes in adults with type 1 diabetes initiating hybrid closed loop (HCL). Methods: Adults with type 1 diabetes, managed with an insulin pump and intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) ≥8.5% (69 mmol/mol), were started on HCL between August and December 2021 as part of the National Health Service England HCL pilot. We collected outcomes, including change in HbA1c, sensor glucometrics, Gold score (hypoglycemia awareness), diabetes distress score, acute event rates, and user opinion of HCL. Results: In total, 420 HCL users across 30 diabetes centers in the United Kingdom were included (median age 40 [interquartile range or IQR 29-50] years, 68% female, 85% White British). Over a median follow-up of 12 months (IQR 8-28) (range 6-38 months), mean adjusted HbA1c reduced by 1.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] −1.5, −1.3; P < 0.001) (16 mmol/mol [95% CI −17, −14]; P < 0.001). Time in range (70-180mg/dL) increased from 33.7% to 60.4% (P < 0.001). The proportion of individuals achieving HbA1c ≤7.5% (58 mmol/mol) increased from 0% to 33.1% (P < 0.001). Diabetes distress score reduced (−1.1; 95% CI −1.3, −1.0; P < 0.001) and Gold score reduced (−0.4; 95% CI −0.5, −0.2; P < 0.001). The percentage of individuals with impaired hypoglycemia awareness (Gold score ≥4) decreased (16.6% [baseline] vs. 9.2% [follow-up]; P < 0.001). Almost all participants stated that HCL had a positive impact on quality of life (94.5%; 361/382). The number of hospital admissions was low. Conclusions: Long-term real-world use of HCL is associated with sustained improvements in glycemic and person-reported outcomes in adults with type 1 diabetes and above-target HbA1c levels
Measurement invariance and differential item functioning of a care staff proxy measure of nursing home resident dementia-specific quality of life (DEMQOL-CH): do care aides' first language, and care aides' and residents’ ethno-cultural background matter?
Get PDFQuality of life (QoL) is a priority goal of dementia care, but measuring QoL becomes increasingly difficult as a person's ability to self-report declines. QoL measurement is particularly challenging among Nursing home (NH) residents, due to their often advanced cognitive impairment. The DEMQOL-CH is a validated tool to assess NH residents' QoL, using care staff proxy reports. Care staff and residents often have diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds, which may affect the measurement of QoL. Our objective was to assess measurement invariance and differential item functioning (DIF) of the DEMQOL-CH based on care staff ethno-cultural background, language, and resident ethno-cultural background. In a convenience sample of 9 NHs in the Canadian province of Alberta, research assistants conducted structured interviews with 119 care staff between July and September 2021 to complete DEMQOL-CH assessments of 612 residents. We performed confirmatory factor analyses, multiple group item response theory analyses, and DIF analyses. Measurement of the overall DEMQOL-CH score was affected by care staff ethno-cultural background and language (lack of scalar measurement invariance), but not by resident ethno-cultural background. Six of the 31 DEMQOL-CH items had DIF based on both, care staff ethno-cultural background and language, 2 items had DIF based on care staff ethno-cultural background, 4 items had DIF based on care staff language. Resident ethno-cultural background did not lead to DIF. The lack of measurement invariance and the presence of DIF affects the comparability of DEMQOL-CH assessments collected from care staff with diverse ethno-cultural and/or language backgrounds. However, the extent of the issues identified is small and the tool's other psychometric properties are robust. Therefore, we suggest that it is reasonable to continue to use the DEMQOL-CH in its current form, with careful consideration of methods to deal with and adjust for measurement invariance
Scalable fabrication of single- and multi-layer planar lenses on fiber imaging probes
Get PDFWe present a novel, scalable method for fabricating single- and multi-layer planar lenses on 125 μm-diameter fiber imaging probes, demonstrating preliminary capabilities for both lateral imaging (e.g., confocal microscopy) and axial imaging, using optical coherence tomography (OCT) as an exemplar. Hair-thin fiber endoscopes hold great promise for biomedical imaging, especially when paired with custom optics. For instance, OCT benefits from fiber facets that generate needle-like Bessel beams with a large depth-of-field (DOF), while wide-field imaging requires shorter DOF and higher lateral resolution. Current devices often rely on direct fabrication on fiber tips, which is incompatible with high-volume planar nano-fabrication necessary for producing low-cost disposable biomedical devices. In this paper, we propose a scalable fabrication approach compatible with semiconductor manufacturing, which also allows for simultaneous transfer of multiple devices onto fibers. We demonstrate this by transferring four planar lenses at once. To prove their imaging abilities, we designed and transferred a Fresnel zone plate, optimized for lateral imaging, and a diffractive axicon, optimized for axial imaging, onto fiber facets. The axicon fiber generates a needle-like Bessel beam with a 350 μm focal depth, retrieving focused images from a standard resolution target over a 150 μm range. We also present a preliminary demonstration of OCT imaging of reflective targets with a commercial system. Finally, we show that this approach supports multi-layer devices, by fabricating a two-layer Fresnel zone plate fiber probe, which exhibits good imaging performance. This method could enable the integration of complex, multi-functional optical structures onto fibers for advanced imaging and sensing applications
Formal or informal governance mechanism: a contingent view in resolving supply chain disruptions
Get PDFPurposeBoth formal and informal governance mechanisms are important to minimize unresolved supply chain disruptions in buyer-supplier relationships. However, the role and impact of governance mechanisms could be contingent upon the product complexity and the level of visibility across the supply chain. Therefore, we attempt to examine the changing effect of different governance mechanisms under contexts of product's complexity and supply chain visibility.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses survey data collected from manufacturing companies located in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. We received survey responses from 291 senior supply chain and procurement professionals, and we used this data to test our hypotheses through negative binomial regression models.FindingsOur results show that, overall, informal governance has an insignificant effect on unresolved supply chain disruptions, while formal governance has an inverted U-shape effect on unresolved supply chain disruptions. Both product complexity and visibility moderate the dynamics of governance mechanisms when it comes to unresolved supply chain disruptions.Practical implicationsThese findings are useful for supply chain managers in designing and developing governance mechanisms and strategies for different buyer–supplier relationships, considering the level of visibility and complexity of the particular product. In other words, our results assist managers in ensuring better disruption mitigation and resilience development.Originality/valueBy testing the impact of both formal and informal governance using a curvilinear model, our research makes novel contributions to the extant literature on buyer-supplier relationships and governance. Furthermore, emphasizing the role of visibility and product complexity in reducing unresolved disruption adds to the current knowledge within the broader areas of resilience research
Never tell me the odds: Typical return-to-player information increases gamblers’ perceived chances of winning
Get PDFPrevious research has shown that gamblers consistently misunderstand return-to-player (RTP) information, and participants shown an RTP of 93% reported that they were more likely to win than those who were shown no information. However, this effect might have been inflated by a higher-than-average RTP percentage. We experimentally test the impact of showing an industry-average RTP message of 90% on gamblers’ perceived chances of winning, in two studies across two countries (UK and US). Slot players from Prolific (N = 6062) were shown either an RTP message (“This game has an average percentage payout of 90%”), two different House Edge (HE) messages (“This game keeps 10% of all money bet” or “This game is programmed to cost you 10% of your stake on each bet”) or No-Information, and asked to rate their perceived chances of winning at a new slot machine. Across both studies and countries, participants rated their perceived chances of winning as significantly higher with a typical 90% RTP message than with No Information, with large effect sizes (ORs > 5). Both HE messages significantly outperformed RTP, but were no better than No-Information. These effects were moderated by PGSI in the No-Information condition, with participants with higher PGSI responding with higher chances of winning, but not in the other conditions. These results show an undesired side-effect of the consistently ineffective RTP information and confirm the superiority of HE over RTP, although none of the messages were superior to No-Information. Gamblers deserve to be better informed
Effect of propinox and pinaverium bromide on ex vivo colonic motor patterns and their synergistic effect with hyoscine butyl bromide
Get PDFBackground: Antispasmodic agents are used to treat abdominal pain. The mode of action of pinaverium bromide and propinox in the colonic tissue has never been characterized. This study aimed to explore whether HBB can complement the antispasmodic effects of these drugs.Methods: Colon samples were procured from the macroscopically normal regions of 33 patients undergoing colon cancer surgery and subjected to muscle bath experiments. Pinaverium bromide and propinox alone and in combination with HBB were assessed under the following conditions: (1) spontaneous phasic contractions (SPCs) induced by isometric stretch (with 1 µM tetrodotoxin); (2) contractility induced by 10–5 M carbachol; (3) the electrical field stimulation (EFS) of the excitatory pathway (in the presence of 1 mM Nω-nitro-L-arginine and 10 µM MRS2179); and (4) an EFS-induced selective excitation of the inhibitory pathway (under nonadrenergic, noncholinergic pharmacological conditions). An isobolographic study was performed to evaluate the possible interaction between pinaverium bromide, or propinox and HBB.Results: Pinaverium bromide and propinox concentration-dependently reduced SPC (10–5 M: 29%–47% reduction) in both muscle layers. Carbachol-induced contractions were partially reduced by pinaverium bromide (10–5 M: 37%–46% reduction) and propinox (10–5 M: 32%–44% reduction) and almost totally inhibited by the combination with HBB. EFS-induced contractions were slightly decreased by pinaverium bromide (10–5 M; circular muscle: 39% reduction, but no effect on longitudinal muscle) and propinox (10–5 M: circular 48% and longitudinal 37%), and to a greater extent, by the combination with HBB. Both pinaverium bromide (10–5 M: 11%) and propinox (10–5 M: 42%) reduced the EFS-induced off-response but not the on-relaxation. The interaction index measured for the combined activity of HBB with pinaverium bromide or propinox was less than 1 in SPC, carbachol-induced contractions, and EFS-induced contractions.Conclusion: The pharmacological profile obtained in this study was consistent with an L-type calcium channel blocker for both pinaverium bromide and propinox, with an unlikely or a weak antimuscarinic effect for the latter. When combined with the antimuscarinic agent HBB, both pinaverium bromide and propinox showed a synergistic inhibition of contractile responses. This finding could have clinical implications, suggesting a combination treatment approach for greater therapeutic benefits
Opening Up Human-Robot Collaboration
Get PDFAs we see robots being deployed into new places in everyday life, questions arise about what 'human-robot collaboration' (HRC) might look like there. At the same time, HRC researchers are looking to CSCW for better conceptualisations of 'collaboration', and recent work has called for more CSCW-oriented studies of HRC to support this. We address this via an ethnomethodological study of encounters between pedestrians and food delivery robots on public streets. Our analysis-using video recorded fragments of what happens on the streets-demonstrates how passers-by continuously manage walking trajectories in ways that account for robot actions; specifically we articulate how people accomplish practices of following and overtaking robots, passing by and crossing paths with them. We then show that the picture of human-robot collaboration is drawn with distinct asymmetries of action and intelligibility, where humans contribute considerable work to get something that looks like 'collaboration' achieved. This raises fundamental questions for how we talk about concepts of collaboration in HRC from a CSCW perspective, and how such notions can and should be applied to activities which include robots
Pretriangulated 2-representations via dg algebra 1-morphisms
Get PDFThis paper develops a theory of pretriangulated 2-representations of dg 2-categories. We characterize cyclic pretriangulated 2-representations, under certain compactness assumptions, in terms of dg modules over dg algebra 1-morphisms internal to associated dg 2-categories of compact objects. Further, we investigate the Morita theory and quasi-equivalences for such dg 2-representations. We relate this theory to various classes of examples of dg categorifications from the literature
Supporting the Upscaling of Citizen Science to Address Global Challenges
Get PDFIn May 2024, a workshop was held as part of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) 2024 conference in Vienna to explore the creation of transnational communities to upscale citizen science, to address global issues as outlined by the European Union Horizon Missions and their objectives. This report summarises the discussions and issues that were raised during the workshop, from the point of view of a range of different actors in the citizen science discipline. This includes success stories of projects that have upscaled to an international scope, their methodologies for doing so, and the challenges citizen science initiatives face when attempting to contribute to global-scale challenges. The examples shared demonstrate a range of approaches when upscaling citizen science projects, giving rise to discussions regarding project management, shared learning and practice, citizen science tools and resources, scalability and context, and data interoperability. The success and challenges revealed will provide a clear roadmap for current and future citizen science practitioners, especially those with the ambition of upscaling their efforts to tackle challenges at national, regional, or global levels
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